Page 72. Alternatives.
Thanks to everyone who came to see me at SPX and Topatocon! I have one final appearance at GeekGirlCon in Seattle on October 10 and 11! If you’re coming across the comic for the first time, I have books and PDFs for sale in the shop!
Interesting. Col. Lee isn’t necessarily a bad person or the enemy because he’s in the military. However, he thinks militarily – all about defence strategies, weapons, etc. Al and the others think differently, and Lee, being who and what he is, is surprised when his POV isn’t instantly assumed to be the correct one. Let’s hear it for “other” thinking!
Yeah. It’s going to be interesting to find out [why] Colonel Lee wants the robot for military purposes.
Also- I don’t know if Col. Lee is very pro-combat, since I think a previous page showed that, I think- Col. Lee was wearing a symbol that says [ that he is in the Army Medical Command].
You know: he’s military, but he might be a doctor-type who doesn’t want people to be attacked. Hm.
Hmmm. There’s an interesting parallel here: Al is dismissing Lee’s bellicose ideas for his top-heavy machine while listening to people suggesting more constructive uses, even if he feels kind of awkward about it. Al himself probably has struggled with fitting perfectly the image of idealized masculinity he so deeply abhors.
Mom’s rule.
ahhh I have to say it soothes my soul to see the White Middle Aged Military Dude outnumbered by Awesome Ladies. And Al!! Look at you making friends!!! Awwwwww
Plot twist: Jimena brought Al back.
:0 !!!!
I LOVE that dismissal. ‘Sit down, engineers are talking.’
I hate to say it, but I think Al’s the only one in the room who could interrupt the colonel without that look of “HOW DARE YOU”
Holy moly, dem’s some FANCY legs on Lucille.
lol, the Colonel’s face… he’s like please please please let me weaponize everything, please
brendan just watching like yeeees
YEEEES
COLLABORATE, AL, COLLABORATE
I am so happy about the turn of that conversation! Also Al’s thought process is so cute — “You’re Jimena’s mother. Jimena is a good kid and clever. Must have been well-raised. I am listening to you and your ideas intently.”
OOOOHHHHHHHHHHH
He just shut military guy DOOOOWN
Okay, that was legitimately word for word my reaction upon reading this page, but I’m also SUPER excited for Al talking to all these engineer women and getting his nerd on about helping the world.
Ouch, that first panel is painfully relatable as an autistic person — I could feel the sympathetic nervous system response setting in. These last few pages have been rough, in the best kind of way, but still rough. Good on Dee for giving Al an out, and bringing the conversation around to his comfort zone — technical practicalities with tech folk who get it.
Totally in love with Al breaking out of his shell. We know he cares about that robot immensely and the fact he’s willing to see where else it can be used speaks wonders for the kind of person he is.
I love how multifaceted everyone is and Al seeing that these are people he does actually want to collaborate with in the future.
It seems everyone has his or her own thought. (many new vocab for me)
Hey, I just wanted to say that I picked up your first volume at Topatocon and finally got to it today. Needless to say, I went through the whole thing in one sitting. I’m really glad you were there, because this is a really interesting comic.
Now I just really want to know how/why Sulla can fly.
I just love how Al went: You’re the Mother of an attentive, smart, well-behaved kid, whatever you have to say must be worth listening too. Al has his prorities straight.
I want that bottom left panel as something I can send to people when they irritate me XD (Your writing is fabulous. Have I said that?)